The world begins with Hong Kong movies

Chapter 328 Trying to get something for nothing? No way!
Hong Kong Island currently has a significant advantage in arcade games.

Wu Feng's idea was simple: since they had an advantage, they should maximize it and not waste resources.

Wu Feng's Fengmang Games Company directly invited business representatives from Southeast Asia and East Asia to Hong Kong Island to discuss Asian-level arcade competitions.

It's not that he doesn't want to host world-class arcade tournaments, but he estimates that game developers in Europe and America wouldn't give him the time of day.

To put it bluntly, Wu Feng's move is quite clever, implying a struggle for global dominance and influence in the arcade game industry. How could it not cause conflict?

If he successfully hosts a world-class arcade game tournament, Attack & Brawl, as a top-quality fighting game, will immediately become a sensation in Europe and America.

Just think about how much interest is involved, and you'll have a clear idea.

At this time, the arcade game "Ong-Bak" only entered the secondary market of some European and American countries through Lin Dashao's hands.

Supermarkets, cinemas, and some entertainment and leisure venues are places where games are played for leisure and entertainment, rather than being the main focus of arcade game halls.

With Lin Shao's influence, this is the best he can do.

Even the Chinatown gangs in the US, at most, operate within their own territory or are stationed in the arcades within their own area; they can't leave Chinatown.

However, if Ong-Bak becomes a major force in the world of arcade games, the mainstream arcade markets in the United States and Europe will be completely open to Ong-Bak.

It's not just arcade games, but also novels, comics, and TV series, all of which will eventually enter the European and American markets due to profit motives.

The profits involved are staggering!

Unless Wu Feng directly submits and voluntarily hands over the lion's share of the profits, it's highly unlikely that such a good thing will happen.

It's not just Ong-Bak games; other high-quality arcade games produced in Hong Kong also have the potential to become hits in the European and American game markets.

At the same time, it can also export related cultural and entertainment products to Europe and the United States.

Putting everything else aside, it shouldn't be a problem for Cheng Shilong to become famous in Europe and America ahead of schedule; he has that ability.

It was after considering all these factors that Wu Feng decided to hold an Asian-level arcade game competition, at least to avoid so many inexplicable obstacles.

To put it bluntly, at that time, Hong Kong Island was the undisputed leader in arcade games across Asia, even surpassing the rest of the country.

Other Asian countries, including Japan, basically do not have their own arcade game markets.

Under such circumstances, Wu Feng could easily seize the initiative in organizing the Asian Arcade Game Championship.

As long as the Hong Kong market can continuously release high-quality arcade games, it will surely be able to penetrate the mainstream European and American game markets sooner or later.

And so, his trusted subordinate, Li Xin, was pushed forward.

That's perfect. Ever since he took control of Garden Street, this guy has basically been running various games and sports events non-stop, so he's quite experienced.

He has also trained a group of operational talents in related fields.

Today, taking advantage of the opening of the monthly arcade game competition, he brought a group of arcade game distributors from Southeast Asia to broaden their horizons.

The effect looked quite good; at least these Southeast Asian arcade game distributors were all watching with great interest and their eyes glued to the screen.

In the joyful and exciting atmosphere, they quickly became immersed in the experience, just like the audience.

All I can say is that watching skilled players play arcade games is quite a treat.

To promote arcade games, ATV even planned to launch a dedicated gaming channel, and its affiliated newspapers also had special gaming sections.

As I said before, since Hong Kong Island currently has a significant advantage in arcade games, it should maintain that advantage.

In fact, at this time, the number of game development companies on Hong Kong Island had exceeded five, which was quite exaggerated.

You should know that when he was reborn in Hong Kong, there was only one company, VTech, which barely had the technical capability to develop arcade games and game consoles. Even research and development required advance funding from investors.

But things are different now; the market for arcade games is there for all to see.

Leaving aside Wu Feng, who was a pioneer in this field, he made astonishing profits by leveraging the huge sales of arcade games, and his wealth skyrocketed, making him one of Hong Kong Island's newest top tycoons.

This lucky young master, Lin, also accumulated a fortune of over one billion Hong Kong dollars in just a few years by selling popular and high-quality arcade games to customers in Europe and America through his connections, becoming a popular story among the rich second generation.

Not to mention, film companies that own a large number of high-quality action movie copyrights are making a fortune by developing, producing and promoting arcade games of the same name, to the point that even the old-established tycoons of Hong Kong are envious.

Under such circumstances, it is not surprising that game development companies in Hong Kong have seen an explosive growth.

As for R&D personnel, they all learned from Fengmang Games, a company under Wu Feng, and the main R&D backbone was recruited from Europe and the United States with high salaries.

As for assistant R&D personnel, almost all of them were recruited from universities in mainland China.

At this time, researchers in mainland China were going through the most difficult period.

The absurd claim that "those who work on missiles are worse off than those who sell tea eggs" is rampant, and many research institutions are struggling financially. But technology is technology!
Newly established game development companies on Hong Kong Island easily recruited a sufficient number of technical personnel and quickly began game development.

To put it simply, as long as the quality of the games developed isn't too bad, there's a guaranteed income of at least several million.

While they can't penetrate the European and American markets, the entire Asian market is enough to support game development companies in Hong Kong.

Under such circumstances, it's hard to say whether arcade games like "Knights Quest" that appeared in game halls in later generations could still achieve such high sales.

Not only have game development companies sprung up, but most of their shareholders are so-called wealthy families from Hong Kong and Macau.

Ordinary wealthy individuals simply don't have the capital to establish a typical game development company.

At the same time, a large number of game design studios have emerged on university campuses and in various parts of society, providing a large number of job and money-making opportunities for university students and ordinary citizens on Hong Kong Island.

Even in Pengcheng, the situation was affected. With the help of Wu Feng's factory group, temporary idea planning studios were set up on university campuses and by many related personnel.

If you come up with a good idea and find a reliable game development company to cooperate with, whether it's buying out the copyright or sharing the profits steadily, it's enough to make the participants financially free in a short period of time.

Not to mention, the booming arcade game market has also radiated to many related industries, and the market size is quite large.

No one expected that, in addition to finance, real estate, and the port, a new industry would emerge on Hong Kong Island.

Clearly, Fengmang Games Development Company, under Wu Feng's leadership, is the undisputed leader.

Basically, Wu Feng holds the power to set and dominate the arcade game standards in Hong Kong.

In this field, even if so-called traditional elite families want to get involved, they have to give Wu Feng face and obediently follow the rules he sets.

As such, under Wu Feng's guidance, Hong Kong Island's arcade game industry has progressed steadily and reliably from the very beginning.

Wu Feng takes copyright very seriously.

The film industry is the beneficiary, so naturally they all stand on Wu Feng's side!
Their existence means they control nearly 90% of the core story of arcade games, making their importance unquestionable.

Once the rules are established, the price to pay for breaking them is something that even those so-called traditional elite families might not be willing to accept.

This environment has given rise to a large number of idea studios; otherwise, only a fool would do a job that doesn't pay and could even result in being penniless.

Wu Feng is certain that, with the passage of time and the strong economic boom in mainland China, the arcade game market in Hong Kong will remain prosperous for at least another ten years.

The golden age of arcade games will only truly end when personal computers become widespread and the internet boom sweeps across Hong Kong, Macau, and mainland China.

It's funny, really!
Seeing the arcade game industry in Hong Kong Island developing rapidly, the British faction, which was in charge of Hong Kong Island at the time, was naturally quite envious.

The arcade game market in the UK is practically non-existent.

So, not wanting the mainland to benefit, they plan to encourage Wu Feng and those newly established game development companies to relocate to the UK for further development.

That's a very nice statement. Currently, the center of the world economy is in Europe and America.

The majority of the arcade game market is in Europe and America.

As long as Wu Feng and his team are willing to move their company to the UK, the UK will provide them with substantial policy support to help them develop better.

This kind of rhetoric easily persuaded the executives of the other game development companies, and they were tempted.

Wu Feng found it amusing, always feeling that these guys, despite considering themselves from wealthy families, really had a problem with their mentality.

When it comes to matters involving the UK, they seem to become somewhat timid and hesitant, and their minds seem to freeze up.

Fortunately, they did not control the arcade game market in Hong Kong.

The market share of their game development companies is less than that of Fengmang Games, which is under Wu Feng's control.

When they make major decisions, they naturally consult Wu Feng's opinion.

"No matter how nice the words are, they're useless. Show us some real benefits first!"

In a private meeting with senior executives of the game company, Wu Feng bluntly stated: "Let's first open up part of the arcade game market in the UK, and let the classic and high-quality arcade games from Hong Kong Island test the waters!"

"If it works well, it's not impossible to establish a dedicated R&D branch in the UK, or even list on the London Stock Exchange!"

"Is this level of support sufficient? Let's see how the UK reacts. Don't be too hasty!"

Wu Feng's meaning is simple: those who want to take advantage of the British forces without any investment should stop dreaming.

Clearly, the executives of other game development companies were persuaded and immediately informed the representatives of the British faction in Hong Kong, hoping for a definite response.

(End of this chapter)